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The Four Pillars of Prosperity – The Fourth Pillar, Part 3

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

DELIGHT

At last, we are finishing our series focusing on the Four Pillars of Prosperity! We wrap up with the third phase of our Fourth Pillar: Delight. Thus far, we’ve looked at ways you can Delight in all that you have, and Delight in all that you give. This week:

Delight in all that you receive:

Think about a gift you gave to someone recently. Recall your excitement in selecting it (or making it), and how you felt as you wrapped it up and delivered it. Now, imagine that you received no acknowledgement at all. You know, there’s nothing worse than giving something, and not feeling a sense of appreciation on the part of the one you gave it to. It breaks the energy of giving.

Now think about the worst gift you ever received. That gift that wasn’t “you” — was not what you really wanted — created a sense of real disappointment in you. Now think about the person who gave it to you. Imagine how they felt in picking out the gift (or making it); the excitement they had in giving it to you. How did you respond when you received it?

Think about a compliment you received, that you negated and threw back at the giver! Think about offers for help, that you have glibly refused. When you do not receive with delight, you cut off the cycle of giving and receiving and you put a kink in the prosperity flow into your life.

Sometimes receiving with delight is the toughest challenge of all — especially when we find ourselves in a place of need, where we have to take help from others. But if we can just remember that in receiving with delight, we are actually helping those who are giving — and we are keeping that Giving/Receiving Principle alive and active in our lives!

Charles Fillmore said, “It has been found by experience that [people] increase [their] blessings by being grateful for what [they have]. Gratitude even on the mental plane is a great magnet. When gratitude is expressed from the spiritual standpoint, it is powerfully augmented.”

When we are living from a Spiritual Consciousness of Delight, regardless of the situation we are facing, whatever we need flows to us by divine grace.

There is a great story about a zoo that had just acquired a kangaroo. To accommodate their new acquisition, they built a 10-foot high fence. To their surprise, the next day they found the kangaroo outside the fence, jumping around. So, they extended the height of the fence to 15 feet. The next morning, there was the kangaroo, outside the fence again, jumping around joyfully. So they built a 30-foot fence ~ and the kangaroo out again!

As you know, zoo animals talk to one another! The giraffe asked the kangaroo, “How tall do you think they’ll have to make that fence to keep you inside?” The kangaroo replied, “I don’t know! Maybe 1,000 feet, if they keep leaving the gate unlocked!”

That’s a great metaphor for our Prosperity Consciousness! We too often focus on the problems, when all the time, the gate is unlocked, and our prosperity is there for the claiming!

We encourage you to walk through that gate, and hop joyfully around, experiencing abundant prosperity in every area of your life! Practice the Four Pillars of Prosperity: Demolition; Definition; Declaration; and Delight ~ and you will live life more abundantly!

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Take the Charles Fillmore Challenge

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
Cover of "Prosperity"
Cover of Prosperity

Everyone loves a good challenge, right? Well, step right up, because we have a hum-dinger of a challenge for you, if you think you can handle it! When you succeed with this challenge, you will experience an incredible leap in Consciousness, and discover a depth to your spirituality you’ve never imagined possible.

Are you interested? Here’s the deal: In his book, Prosperity, Charles Fillmore writes: “Never make an assertion, no matter how true it may look on the surface, that you would not want to see manifest in your life. For example, don’t say, money is scarce; the very statement will scare money away from you. Do not say times are hard; the very words will tighten your purse strings. Begin now to talk plenty, think plenty, and give thanks for plenty.”

So here’s the challenge! Try to go one full day following Charles’ advice! Refuse to speak any words of your mouth that you do not want to see manifested in your experience! Sound simple? Not as easy as we wish it would be! But a great awareness activity! The very day we created this challenge, we took it on ourselves. Not 30 minutes into it, Cher exclaimed, “Boy, I’m having a bad hair day!” Then we laughed and Cher added, “I sure don’t want THAT\That’s definitely not what I want to be manifested! Let me change that statement: I LOVE my hair, and I look great!”

Perhaps you\You might hear yourself say, “I can’t afford that.” Ooops – you don’t want that idea manifested! How about saying instead, “I choose to spend my money in a different way!”

You could be experiencing a health challenge, and you find yourself complaining about your pain. Take on the challenge, and change your languaging, because you surely don’t want pain manifested. Do not assert what you do not want to see in your life experience! Instead, claim “I am healing I am health I am the nature of God.”

This challenge really forces you to become very aware of the words you speak, which are actually your Subconscious Speaking! This will allow you rewrite the conversation! And switching the conversation alters awareness, which changes thoughts, which changes your manifested reality.

We invite you to take on the Fillmore Challenge, and experience a transformation in your spiritual growth, your abundant prosperity, and your joy!

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Finding the YES in NO

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

One of the most difficult words to handle is NO, especially when we desperately want something, or feel it is critical for our success and happiness. According to sales research, NO is the leading cause of ‘fear of rejection’ complex that causes so many people to get out of business!

As we looked back over our years as consultants, we remember that NO was a tough word for us to hear when we generated amazing proposals, only to find someone else was selected to do the job. But we discovered a fascinating way to hear the YES in NO.

We started saying “Thanks for saying no!” When we received the news that we weren’t selected to give a keynote presentation, for example, we would immediately follow up with a little note, thanking the potential client for giving us the opportunity to be considered ~ and our affirmations for them having a great conference.

We followed this up with offering our services for future events, and also indicated that, should something occur at the last minute where they found they needed a speaker, to feel free to contact us. Then we topped it off by including a copy of one of our books as our “Thanks for saying no” gift.

Incredibly, we discovered that more times than not we were contacted immediately to confirm dates next year’s conference! And we can identify three specific instances where unforeseen events occurred with the selected speaker, and we got the call to replace them! We learned how to find the YES in NO by looking at a more long-term response.

How often do you experience obstacles that seem to wave a big red “NO” in front of you? Giving in may feel like the easiest plan, and say, “Forget it!” But in Mark 10:27, Jesus makes an incredible statement: “With God, all things are possible.”

What is HE talking about? It tends to conjure up all kinds of debates, like “Yeah, possible, but how probable?” Or “This sounds good, but it won’t work in the real world!”

So let’s look at the Unity perspective of what this verse is really talking about, we get a whole different view. It says that as we make that connection with the Christ of us, our God center, we are receptive to the Divine Flow of every thing we ever need. But until we spend that time in Headquarters, in meditation and prayer, our human self sees the appearance of obstacles, of “NOs.”

Here are three keys to discovering the YES in every NO you seem to encounter:

  • Spend dedicated time in the Silence, strengthening your connection with Spirit.
  • Counter every appearance of NO with a big “Thank You for saying no!” Then identify ways to send positive energy to the situation or people.
  • Recognize that there is no being out there in the sky saying NO. We have the power to Divinely order our experience, and create the life we choose. Refuse to let the appearance of NO have power in your life!

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The Prosperity Story of The Widow’s Oil: Do You Suffer From Only-ness?

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

In II Kings 4:1-7, there is an amazing story of prosperity that is timeless in its metaphysical message. In today’s troubled economy, the implications are staggering!

In case you may have forgotten this story, let us share it quickly:

Verse 1: The wife of a man from the guild of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that he was devoted to God. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”

Verse 2: Elisha replied to her, “What help can I be? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “I have nothing except a little oil.”

Verse 3: Elisha said, “Go up and down the street and borrow jugs and bowls from everyone. Don’t ask for just a few.

Verse 4: Then come back home and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into every container you have, and as each is filled, set it to one side.”

Verse 5: The widow left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. Her boys brought the jars to her and she continued pouring in the oil.

Verse 6: When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Another jug, please.”

But he replied, “We’ve used all the containers.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

Verse 7: The widow went and told Elisha, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and take care of your debts. You and your sons can live on the money that remains”

From a metaphysical standpoint, we know that everything from this story stands for something that is going on inside us. So let’s look at the major elements:

Elisha: Stands for our Spiritual “I-Am”

The Widow: indicates a belief in separation from God – a belief in an external God who withholds our good. A widow represents one who has lost sight of God as support. The unity between mind and intuition has been cut off, and lack and burden result.

Empty vessels: mean expanded consciousness to include new faith and vision; an openness to Divine ideas.

Bringing vessels into the house and shutting the door: Represents focus and meditation – going to “Headquarters” and deliberately intensifying awareness to Truth.

Oil: Stands for Divine Substance

So what does this mean for us? The truth revealed in this story is the intensifying power of Spirit. When Elisha asked the widow what she had, he was essentially asking, “Where is your consciousness?” Obviously, her consciousness was on lack. When our attention is on “only-ness,” we are putting our thought energy on our lack.

The Key Principle to remember and apply: No matter what you have, DO NOT IDENTIFY IT WITH THE WORD “ONLY!”

When we expand our spiritual awareness, and focus our attention on our unending flow of substance rather than our lack, we generate an energy/idea flow that magnetically attracts even more abundance from True Source.

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The Metaphysics of Frosty the Snowman

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

What do an old silk hat, corn cob pipe, button nose, and boots have in common?? They all belong to a lump of snow called Frosty, the Snowman.

To the general public, Frosty the Snowman stands for joy. The joy of living. The joy of laughter. The joy of hearing children play. The joy of spontaneity. The joy of meaningful work. The joy of being with the people you love. Frosty, the Snowman symbolizes all of that. He is joy personified.

Most people, when they hear the words, Frosty, the Snowman, break into a smile. A gleam appears in their eyes. Children ages 3 to 93 identify with Frosty’s playfulness and zest for life. But Frosty represents much, much more.

When the traditional Christmas story is read, it’s either the Gospel of Matthew or Luke that are used. In each of these Gospels you find beautifully-told pieces relating the miraculous birth involving both the Divine and the human. The authors of Matthew and Luke also seek to place the birth of Jesus in a particular historical and cultural setting. Jesus is the son of poor Jewish parents, but is also described as a descendant of Israel’s greatest king, King David. His birth is given a definite time and place.

But, there is something totally different in Jon. There’s no nativity, no shepherds, no Magi, no star in the sky, no heavenly hosts, not even so much as a Mary and Joseph.

John’s gospel instead is some rather esoteric sounding language about something called “The Word:” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” Several verses later you read, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us” Then, not too many more verses after that, Jesus is suddenly baptized and begins his ministry. If John’s account were all we had to go on, we might be celebrating Christmas a little differently.

What John’s Gospel tells us is the Word became real, became flesh, became incarnatedand became a living, breathing part of us.

Christmas is an incarnation story. It is the saga of the Incarnating Christ in each of us. It is the chronicle of our unfolding Christhood.

So what does this have to do with Frosty the Snowman? Think about it: Frosty came to life one day, dwelt among us and told us It would be back again one day. The metaphor is obvious.

Joyfulness, not struggle, is the message. Laughing and playing, dancing around in a silk hat, ball cap, boots, sandals or barefooted is the message. We are here to enjoy this Earth experience to spend this incarnation, happily, healthily and prosperously to dance and play and create and achieve until we melt away.

From Frosty, we can learn a new set of “Three R’s”:

I. Release any worries about the future, and put your attention on now.

II. Recognize the Source: It’s not in your hat – it’s in your heart!

III. Reaffirm Joy, no matter what!

And KNOW that you cannot be separated from your good, from God, because you and God are one! And that is cause for JOY!

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Living in Delight

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

WE absolutely love the TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ~ because it personifies the human spirit, and the deep inner desire we have to reach out and help others. A hallmark emotion of this show is “Delight”

  • the incredible delight of the family, when they view their new home;
  • the obvious delight of Ty and the design team, in sharing the home;
  • the heart-warming delight of the builders and volunteers, who always claim they receive so much more than they give!

Delight is an intense emotion, and one that truly opens the Consciousness to allow a free-flow of abundance and prosperity to come to you, in ways you would never begin to imagine!

As part of our Sunday service, we share a Prosperity Blessing during our offering time, in which we repeat together, “Divine Love, through me, blesses and multiplies all the I have, all that I give, and all that I receive.”

These words are actually a perfect outline for understanding an Extreme Level of Delight. Most people tend to think about money when they hear this blessing, but let’s “amp it up” into a description of our consciousness, and see a deeper message!

Delight in all you have:

Of course, this tells us to be grateful for the things we have  without begrudging what others have, or always longing for what you wish you had.

But there’s a deeper level to consider: don’t we all have things we don’t particularly feel grateful for? For example, things like illness, money problems, work issues, etc.? The real secret here is to live from a state of delight, even in the midst of these kinds of issues. Regardless of what we “have,” we are grateful! Not for  but from! Living from that sense of delight in knowing we are one with God and all is well, we can recognize that every experience is simply “curriculum,” from which we can learn and grow.

Delight in all that you give:

This section of the blessing reminds us to delight in the things we give to others, but it goes so much farther than that. Become aware of other ways you give  and pay attention to whether you are giving gratefully. We give by way of words; expressions; help; comfort; time. For example, we recently hosted some out of state friends. Ten of us met to share time together for a dinner, ranging from age 17 months to 89 years old! It was an incredible evening, because everyone gave their time, joyfully, to come together as family and friends. What a joyful gathering we all had!

Give joyfully! We write “Gladly” on all our checks (right above the words “Pay to the order of”), and it helps us experience a sense of joy as we send our money out into the world. By allowing a sense of delight to flow through us, we can send that joy out to others through our words and actions. Giving with delight enriches your prosperity, and the prosperity of all those whose lives you touch!

Delight in all that you receive:

Think about a gift you gave to someone recently. Recall your excitement in choosing it (or making it), and how you felt as you wrapped it up and delivered it. Now, imagine that you get no acknowledgment at all. Nothing is more disappointing than giving something, and not feeling a sense of appreciation on the part of the one you gave it to. It breaks the flow of the giving and receiving cycle.

Consider a compliment you received, that you negated and threw back at the giver! Think about offers for help, that you have glibly refused. When you do not receive with delight, you cut off the cycle of giving and receiving, and you put a kink in the prosperity flow into your life.

Experience shows that receiving with delight is the toughest challenge of all – particularly when we find ourselves in a place of need, where we must take help from others. But if we can just remember that in receiving with delight, we are actually helping those who are giving – and we are maintaining that Giving/Receiving Cycle, keeping it flowing in our lives!

Charles Fillmore is quoted as saying, “It has been found by experience that a person increases his blessings by being grateful for what he has. Gratitude even on the mental plane is a great magnet. When gratitude is expressed from the spiritual standpoint, it is powerfully augmented.”

When we live life from a Spiritual Consciousness of Delight – delighting in all that we have, all that we give, and all that we receive – we will discover that everything we ever need flows to us as we align ourselves  with Divine Abundance.

Drs. Bil & Cher Holton are Spiritual Leaders at Unity Spiritual Life Center in Durham, NC, where they practice positive, practical, progressive Christianity. Visit their website at Unity Spiritual Life Center and sign up to receive a complimentary 4-week e-course.

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Nothing Happens By Accident

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

A balloon salesman was selling balloons on the streets of Mobile, Alabama one October day. He sold them in multi-colored packets of various sizes of balloons. He also sold helium-filled balloons. When business was slow he would twist the balloons and turn them into animal and flower shapes.

As he turned the balloons into shapes children would converge with their parents in tow. In the middle of his balloon-shaping routine he would occasionally launch a helium-filled balloon to add to the drama and excitement for the children.

His business would pick up for 15 or 20 minutes and so he repeated his shaping and releasing sequence three times every hour. He also changed the color of each balloon he released, first releasing a white one, then a red one, and later a yellow one.

One day an Afro-American youngster pulled on his coat sleeve. The salesman looked down at the boy who was wearing a soiled ball cap.

"Well. Hello there young fella. Would you like a balloon?"

"No, sir. I have my bottle caps." He dug a handful out of his pocket and showed them to the salesman.

"Oh, I see," said the salesman, grinning at the boy’s innocence. "I’m afraid you can’t purchase balloons with bottle caps."

"I can’t afford no balloons," the youngster said. Then he looked the vendor directly in the eyes and spoke softly, "What I want to know is, if you released a black balloon, would it rise up too?"

The balloon salesman knelt beside the little boy and put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. "Yes, son, it would. As a matter of fact I’ve got some black Halloween balloons with me. I only sell them on Halloween. But, yes, they rise like the rest of them. Here, I’ll demonstrate for you."

The salesman dug a Halloween balloon out and inflated it with helium. Both of them watched as the balloon soared upward.

The youngster grinned, relieved that the black balloon was as good as the white, and red, and yellow balloons.  As the balloon salesman rose he noticed a tear in the boy’s eyes. He stooped down again.

"See, the balloon is going very high, it’s almost out of sight," he announced as he tugged the bill of the boy’s cap. "Son, it’s what’s inside the balloons that makes them go up. And it’s what’s inside of you that makes you to succeed in life. There’s greatness in you. Will you remember that for me?"

The youngster smiled brightly this time. "Yes sir, I will."

"Here," said the salesman, "These balloons are for you." He pulled two black balloons out, inflated them with helium, and gave them to the youngster. He watched the little boy leave with a smile on his face.

One of the bystanders who over-heard the conversation said to the salesman, "The boy is from the ‘Down the Bay’ area of Mobile, the poorest side of town. He uses bottle caps as baseballs and hits them with a stick. It’s a common practice for kids down there."

They both watched the boy let go of one of the balloons and then quickly grab its string. He repeated the release and catch move as he walked away from them.

The youngster remembered what the balloon salesman told him, "Son, it’s what inside the balloons that makes them rise. There’s greatness in you."

The boy grew up to become a professional baseball player. He stopped hitting bottle caps and hit baseballs farther and more often than anyone else.

During his professional career, ‘Hammerin’ Hank Aaron hit 755 home runs, a feat that held for 33 years until Barry Bonds broke his record in August of 2007.

‘Hammerin’ Hank is the only player to hit 30 or more home runs in a season at least 15 times. He is one of only four major leaguers to have at least 17 seasons with 150 or more hits.

Hank Aaron made the All-Star team every year from 1955 until 1975. That’s 20 years! He still holds the ML record for the most runs batted in (2,297), the most extra base hits (1,477), and the most total bases (6,856).

Not bad for a boy who smacked bottle caps with a stick. Was it fate, or an accident, or chance that he met that particular salesman, at that particular time, on that particular street?

Hank Aaron’s coincidental meeting with that balloon salesman is the subject of our 7th in a series of ‘Get Over It’ talks. This morning we will examine the well-known New Thought phrase ‘nothing happens by accident.’

The phrase itself is true, but misleading. Of course ‘nothing happens by accident.’ There are no accidents in the sense that in and of themselves they suddenly appear out of nowhere, without a precipitating cause.

Any competent safety professional will tell you that. Accidents are created. They are the effects of a series of events which lead up to them.

It is the way people toss this saying around that has put it on our list of phrases to ‘get over.’ This phrase is used much in the same way as people use ‘divine timing’ and ‘divine appointment’ to describe what happens to them.

The statement that ‘nothing happens by accident’ implies that everything happens as it is supposed to happen.

And what is supposed to happen is determined by fate, or karma, or God, or cosmic beings ‘out there’ who are in charge of engineering our earth experience.

Cher and I invite you to ‘get over’ that way of thinking immediately. It puts your power, and self-determination, and your ability to be the captain of your fate outside of you.

We are NOT here to be the products of an ‘outside in’ mythology. We are here to be the architects of an inside out theology.

It will require a change in consciousness. It will take a transformation in consciousness. And that transformation includes becoming more aware of what we say, think, and do.

Our message is – it is NO ACCIDENT that you are reading this today:

  • It is NO ACCIDENT that you are where you are on your spiritual journey.
  • It is NO ACCIDENT that you are seeking answers to complex human challenges.
  • It is NO ACCIDENT that you are becoming aware that you are divine beings having a human experience.
  • It is NO ACCIDENT that you are the Christ expressing as you.

And so, it doesn’t matter what color your balloon is – white, red, yellow, black, or brown – you can soar as high as anyone else, because it’s what’s inside of you that counts.

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Cleaning Your Spiritual House: The Parable of the Unclean Spirit, a Metaphysical Perspective

Wednesday, August 13th, 2008

Jesus loved sharing parables as a way of teaching Truth principles. But sometimes His stories sound somewhat strange and even harsh. It is necessary to delve a little deeper, to figure out the metaphysical interpretation and how it relates to our lives.

A perfect example is the story of the unclean spirit, shared in Matthew 12:43-45 and Luke 11:24-26. Jesus shares the story of when an unclean spirit leaves a person; it wanders waterless regions searching for a resting place. Finding none, it decides to go back to the house from which it came. Finding it swept clean and in order, the spirit then brings along seven of his buddies to join him. The end result is that the state of the person is worse than it was before.

Wow! That’s a strange story to read. So let’s explore some of the important elements, for a deeper meaning.

Unclean Spirit: error thoughts or habits that contradict our Divinity and get in the way of our Spiritual growth.

Waterless region: environment that lacks spiritual enrichment.

House: our consciousness.

Swept and put in order: a consciousness that has created a vacuum by recognizing and eliminating error thoughts, without replacing them with spiritual ideas and principles.

Seven: represents completeness in the world of phenomena (unusual or extraordinary)

So let’s take a look at this parable again, with this new information. Here’s what it is saying:

When a person identifies error thinking and, through denials, refutes its power, those error thoughts depart, leaving a void which must be filled. If it is not filled, the bad habits will return, and become even stronger than before, making the person more skeptical and frustrated with the world of appearance than when they started their spiritual journey. This is why it is so critical to create a regular practice of prayer and meditation, coupled with denials and affirmations, to refuel and rejuvenate yourself as you continue strengthening your life built on Truth principles.

3 Keys to Unlock a New Level in Your Spiritual Consciousness

Denials: cleansing your Consciousness by refusing to give any power to your error thoughts;

Affirmations: claiming a mighty spiritual principle and affirming it. Keep in mind, things do not become true because you affirm them; you affirm them because they are Truth!

Prayer and Time in the Silence: providing opportunities to realign, reconnect, and receive Divine guidance, ideas, and inspiration.

When, with good intentions,  you clean up your spiritual act, without creating Truth-based spiritual practices, you will feel like that poor subject of the parable  you will feel too busy to practice Truth principles; too embedded in the world of appearance to focus on Truth; and too skeptical to allow Divine Wisdom and Ideas to flow to you.

But when you create the time to practice denials, affirmations, and time at headquarters, you will have "cleaned your house" and redecorated your thinking and habits, so there is no space for those spirits to come back with their negative buddies! You are aligned and ready to co-create the amazing, healthy, abundant, spiritual life that you deserve by right of Consciousness!

Drs. Bil & Cher Holton are Spiritual Leaders at Unity Spiritual Life Center in Durham, NC, where they practice positive, practical, progressive Christianity. Visit their website at Unity Spiritual Life Center and sign up to receive a complimentary 4-week e-course.

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How to Deal With Difficulty: Metaphysical Lessons from Job

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

For lots of people, the Book of Job is a difficult book. It relates the story of a righteous man who loses every precious thing he possesses, who suffers horribly, who seems victimized by the very God he worships. Let’s start with a snapshot of Job’s story. We only have space for a few glimpses although our journey will take us through the entire book of Job, chapters 1 thru 42.

The narrative begins with a description of Job as a man ‘perfect and upright, one that feared God, and turned away from evil.’ (1:1) Job’s goodness is so incredible that God says to Satan in (1:8) ‘There is none like him on earth.’

Satan implies that Job is pious because he has been blessed and protected. Satan says, ‘Put forth thy hand and touch all that he has and he will renounce you to your face.’ (1:11)

Jehovah allows Satan to deprive Job of everything he has in order to test him. Job loses all of his material possessions, his children, his livestock, his servants, everything! Job is crushed, but he still continues to worship God.

When Jehovah rejoices that Job continues to praise Him, Satan mentions that only Job’s possessions and family have been affected. He tells God that if Job himself is afflicted, he will turn from God.

So Jehovah says to Satan, "Behold he is in thy hand, only spare his life." (2:6) Job is smitten with painful sores and boils all over his body (2:7). Chapter 3, verse 25 explains Job’s difficult situation. It says: "What Job feared came upon him." Does this have a familiar ring to it? Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? Listen to what happens next.

Three of his closest friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) learn of his plight and come to comfort him. Chapters 3-31 contain conversations between Job and his friends.

Eliphaz believes Job is suffering because he has sinned; Bildad ponders that if Job was more upright, he would not be in the trouble he’s in; Zophar rebukes Job for being so self-righteous and fearful, and urges him to repent.

Job reproaches them for their judgmentalness and feels forsaken by his friends and God. "I have been wronged. I cry for help, but there is no justice." (19:7)

Finally Job looks deeply within himself, and then declares in (31:35) "Let the Almighty answer me!" At that moment, his three friends go away and Elihu comes to his rescue. With the arrival of Elihu, Satan backs off. The story ends with Jehovah giving Job twice as much as he had before (42:10) and Job lives happily ever after.

Despite the happy ending, the literal interpretation of this story leaves more questions than answers. Why did Job need to suffer in the first place? Why did God co-conspire with Satan to bring about Job’s suffering? Are we simply pawns in the battle between good and evil? What was God thinking, you might ask?

All of these questions are perfectly natural questions — if we take this extraordinary story literally. The spiritual meaning of Job’s suffering becomes clear when we take a metaphysical look. Metaphysically, the Book of Job is a case study in Mind Action. And as we mentioned earlier, Chapter 3:25 tells us why Job suffered: "What Job feared came upon him."

The people mentioned in the Book of Job are the thoughts, personal qualities, attitudes, and beliefs we hold in our consciousness. Their metaphysical interpretations are as follows:

Zehovah stands for the Christ of us, our God-Self

Satan symbolizes the tendency within each of us to forsake our divinity.

Eliphaz represents our half-hearted desire for spiritual wholeness

Bildad is our on-again/off-again acknowledgment of our Christ potential

Zophar represents our fault-finding nature which blames others for our troubles

Elihu is the Holy Spirit, the still small voice

Job represents that aspect of us that outwardly seems centered and dedicated to truth principles, but inwardly chooses to be deceived by outer appearances and then allows fears, doubts, and a sense of unworthiness to get the best of us.

So, here’s a metaphysical interpretation of the story of Job:

Our God-Self (Zehovah) honors our power of choice, even if it means allowing us to deny our divinity (Satan). When we experience difficult times, the Job in us, (represented by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zohar) fears the worst in outer appearances and allows those things to get the best of us. However, once we remember that it is our own error thoughts which have caused us to miss the mark; we can go to our Christ Center (Elihu) and listen for that still small voice. In the story, God doubled Job’s prosperity. The number ‘2′ represents the two natures of us, human and divine, becoming one.

So, what can we do when we experience those dark night of the soul experiences?

  1. We can change the outer world by changing our inner world . Become aware of what you are really thinking, and claim dominion over your thoughts. Choose to remember your Spiritual nature.
  2. We can refuse to give power to outer appearance . When the ‘Job’ in us refuses to give power to outer appearances and accepts our divinity, it will be the second time fire is discovered by the human race – the fire of the discovery of our divinity. At that moment, there will be no more suffering, wars, or dis-ease. What an incredible world that will be!
  3. We can claim our oneness with God . We suffer because we believe we are separated from God. And because we believe we are separated from God, we believe we are separate from one another. And because we deny our oneness with one another, we perpetuate a collective error consciousness, which gives power to outer appearances that strengthens our belief in our separation from our God-ness. That belief is the cause of all suffering.

So to avoid suffering, acknowledge and celebrate your oneness with God! Your prosperity, inner peace, and joy will return to you, multiplied!

Drs. Bil & Cher Holton are Spiritual Leaders at Unity Spiritual Life Center in Durham, NC, where they practice positive, practical, progressive Christianity. Visit their website at Unity Spiritual Life Center and sign up to receive a complimentary 4-week e-course.

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Becoming Connected to the Truth of Who You Are

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

It sounds really good that we desire to be totally connected – that we increase our spiritual might simply by giving all we have to Spirit. But that really scares a lot of people. They believe you have to go to a mountaintop somewhere, or escape into the wilderness in order to be that committed. But nothing could be further from the truth!

The truth is we are always connected, regardless of where we are or what we are doing. We cannot be not connected to Spirit! The issue is that we are not always grounded in that awareness of our connection ~ and that’s when we begin to feel a sense of separation. So to really increase our MIGHT, we must become so completely grounded in our awareness of our oneness with spirit that no outer appearance can throw us off balance. Then it becomes a way of being to live life full out!

A great analogy of this is the ocean and the wave. They are one, and cannot be separated, yet each wave is unique and individual. However, it is still a part of the ocean. You can take a pail and bring some of the ocean water home collect some of the ocean water to take home – and you know that even though it is separated, it’s still the ocean. But a wave can no longer do what waves are meant to do, unless it is where it’s destined to be  in and of the ocean. Only as a part of the ocean can waves live life full out!

It is the same with us! We are in and of this daily life we have chosen to live. Our adventure is to allow our Divine nature to unfold as we live our life full out! When we have that solid grounding in our oneness, it becomes second nature for us to give our all to Spirit.

The question remains: How do we do that? We’d like to suggest three ways you may want to try. It is the "3-S Formula for Living Life Full Out!:

SILENCE:

You create a solid grounding in Spirit by spending time in the Silence. The connection gets stronger even if you think nothing is happening.

It’s like going to Weight Watchers! You stick to the eating plan, and each week you go in for your weekly weigh-in. You may not feel any different – but you find out you are a mere quarter of a pound lighter! It is so teeny you almost deny its value. But several weeks of this, and all of a sudden you are able to wear a pair of jeans that were uncomfortably tight, and now, magically, they feel great! You didn’t realize what was actually happening, until you performed some kind of action that made it real.

Spending time in the Silence is sort of like that. What you are doing is putting your Intuitive Connection on Alert. You’ll find that by spending time in the Silence, you begin getting messages, insights, ideas, strength, wisdom, things you need. By giving time to Spirit, you gain a life of spiritual growth, inner peace, and pure joy.

SERVICE (Through SHARING):

Albert Schweitzer said, "I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."

It’s interesting that all of us can give. We all have gifts, talents, opportunities to help others. We just need to be aware that there are some things an individual can’t do alone. For example – We’ve read that people are able to hold more weight in one hand than the other. In fact, we bet we can think of something you can hold in your right hand that you cannot hold in your left hand, regardless of how strong you are! Ready? Stretch out your left arm – and bend it. Now, place your left elbow in your right palm. Okay – you are now holding your left elbow in your right hand. Show us how you can hold your left elbow in your left hand!! See – there are certain things we just can’t do on our own!

It’s incredible – whenever you are experiencing a sense of self pity, or going through a difficult time, one of the best remedies is to do something for someone else! It transforms your whole viewpoint!

There are lots of opportunities to serve: community projects; volunteering; visiting people who are shut in or sick; taking food to a family in need.  A first grade class in Green Bay WI saved their chore money and bought 22 baby books for a hospital’s newborn intensive care unit. A group of nursing home residents created quilts, which they donated to a homeless shelter in Ohio.

Giving and receiving is a cycle, and we get into that cycle through giving. It doesn’t have to be money. (A friend of ours observed that it was much easier for her to tithe when she had a little money than when she got a windfall!)

By giving to Spirit through sharing, you claim a permanent spot in the cycle of giving and receiving!

SNACKS!

We know – this sounds weird! But give us an opportunity to explain! What do you think about with snacks? Feeding yourself, in delightful ways that bring you joy! The snacks we’re talking about in this formula are low calorie/high Consciousness ones. Snacks like making time to feed yourself spiritually, by consuming books, classes, retreats, labyrinth walks, or group discussions.

The neat part is, just like food snacks, spiritual snacks become addictive. You find that the more you snack, the more you want! And the more you want, the more you snack! And the more you snack, the stronger your grounding in Spirit, the stronger your awareness of NO separation! And that changes the way you THINK – the way you ACT – the way you live your life! When you hit life’s little problems – or the BIG ones – they just can’t knock you off center! You are grounded, and able to stand firm in Truth.

This week, make it an adventure to live life full out by give your whole self to Spirit! As you strengthen your grounding in Spirit, you’ll increase your spiritual might by practicing Silence  sharing  and spiritual snacking. Know that your time will reap millions in spiritual currency. Don’t settle for a penny less!

Drs. Bil & Cher Holton are Spiritual Leaders at Unity Spiritual Life Center in Durham, NC, where they practice positive, practical, progressive Christianity. Visit their website at Unity Spiritual Life Center and sign up to receive a complimentary 4-week e-course.

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